James Brown

I am an Associate Professor of Architecture with a particular interest in critical pedagogy and the role of design-build and live projects in architectural education.

I studied Architecture at the University of Sheffield (BA Honours 2004 & Master of Architecture 2008). My PhD (Queen's University Belfast, 2012) developed a pedagogical critique of the live project in architectural education. I have held academic positions at De Montfort University, Norwich University of the Arts, the Royal College of Art and the University of Nottingham.

I am the author of Mediated Space: The architecture of news, advertising and entertainment (RIBA Books, 2018) and the co-editor with Harriet Harriss, Ruth Morrow and James Soane of A Gendered Profession: the question of representation in space making (RIBA Books, 2016).

I am currently working on three books: Practising Wood in Architecture: connecting design, construction and sustainability (Routledge, 2024) with my former postdoctoral colleague Francesco Camilli; Architectural thinking in a climate emergency (Routledge, 2025) with Sofie Pelsmakers (Tampere University, Finland); and Studio Properties (Bloomsbury, 2025) with Elizabeth Boling (Indiana University, USA), James Corazzo (Sheffield Hallam University, UK), Colin M. Gray (Purdue University, USA) Derek Jones (Open University, UK) and Nicole Lotz (Open University, UK).

I also work with Professor Sarah Cook on the WASP-HS funded Art and AI project at UmArts in partnership with Bildmuseet, UMA, and Umeå Institute of Design (UID).

I'm the course responsible for five consecutive History of Architecture courses in the Architecture program at UMA. The courses provide students with core knowledge about the history of the discipline, including exemplar buildings and architects, while also developing research and writing skills.

In 2021 I won the Umeå University's Faculty of Science and Technology educational award for innovation and quality of education in the History of Architecture courses.